The Latest Graduation
by Ceris Malfoy
Summary: Professor Aurora Sinistra watches the latest graduating class. This is a fic for the Third Floor Corridor Fanfiction Contest number 2. Read and Review.


**This is for the Third Floor Corridor Fanfiction Challenge #2: _"Write about one of the Professors watching graduation... that's all. The rest is up to you."_ I did my best, although I'm sure you'll notice that alot of my usual angsty-ness seeped through. It works though. This was sparked in part by the Poetry contest hosted by the same site, also on the topic of graduation.**

**For those of you who are wondering about why all of my one-shots are gone, I have one word to say to you: Songfics. Apparently they're no longer allowed. So, with the exception of this one, I plan on never posting another one-shot on This one is being posted for the next month or two, before I re-upload it onto or LadyCosmos. If you want to check either of those two sites out, be my guest, I have the same username under both of them.**

**WARNING: Slightly AU. Voldemort is dead (although not telling how), Albus is still alive, and Severus is still the Potions Professor.**

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter, and all other characters, situations, and events that belong to the Potterverse, do not belong to me. They belong to J.K.Rowling. I don't foresee her letting me have them anytime soon, so this remains, as always, fanwork. Please don't sue.

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**The Latest Graduation**

_**One-shot**_

By: Ceris Malfoy

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Aurora Sinistra watched the newest graduates with sad eyes. Not for the first time, she cursed her decision to teach Astronomy. Unlike the other professors, who saw enough of their students to form lasting connections with their students that would last well beyond Hogwarts, her students never came back.

Never.

It was a sad fact of life, one that every year she thought she had gotten over. And every year, she would watch the students collect their diplomas, and wonder. Where would they go? What would they do? Would they ever come back? They would, inevitably, they always did, but they would not come back for _her_. Students like Hermione Granger, with her too-frizzy hair and her easy smile that was often hidden behind the latest book, or even Draco Malfoy with his pale pointed looks and lingering sneer that often hid what he truly felt far more effectively than a mask...they would all come back.

For Minerva, or Severus, or Albus, or Hagrid, but never her.

It was routine for her by now to take a sip or two of Scotch before the graduating ceremony, but no one ever noticed. She was just a face, just another in a long line of professors that never made an impression.

She watched them, those waiting seventh years, who were completely silent. They always were, at first, as if they were numb. They probably were. She turned her dark eyes towards Albus and the four heads' and her gaze lingered. The rituals were taking longer with this class, which was entirely understandable considering. This class was more mature, more grown up than any class she had ever have the curse of watching leave, and their magic would reflect that when the restrictions woven into their wands and cores were finally eradicated.

Aurora closed her eyes as the magic ebbed and flowed and spread throughout every magical being in Hogwarts. She hated this part. For a few brief moments, she felt connected, strong, and it did not matter that she would be forgotten within a week, because she had been a part of _this_; magic and love and strength and unity and _freedom_. And then she came crashing back down, as she always did, as she always would. She opened her eyes, and gazed sadly at the sky. She did not need to look to know that her fellow professors' eyes were glowing with the strength and power of their magic, and she did not need a mirror or a pitying glance to know that hers did not glow at all.

She was empty, hollow, fit only to prattle on to oblivious students about her precious stars.

The restriction's placed on a child's magic the second they touched their acceptance letter snapped, and the silence snapped with it. Every student laughed and rejoiced and sang in elation. They were adults. They had graduated. _They were free_.

She turned her teary eyes away from their jubilation, and bit her lip to keep from crying out. _'Stay. Please stay. Or at least come back. I'm so tired...'_

Stone-faced and empty-hearted, she stood and wandered through the halls to her rooms, where the latest bottle of Firewhisky waited. As she left, she never noticed the sad looks of her colleagues.

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The after-graduation party was in full swing. As a "sign of good faith" all the teachers were required to attend, and offer their (sometimes forced) words of wisdom to those willing to listen. Most of them were milling around in a corner, watching the students spike the punch and make fools of themselves, waiting for their turn to speak.

"This can't go on. That girl is too fragile to put up with this much longer." Minerva's voice was tired and worn, her concern and pity palpable.

"I know, Minerva. But what can we do? We can't force them back," Filius sighed.

Severus snorted. "She'll learn to deal, like all the rest of you have learned to deal. Why she even misses the little cretins, I cannot possibly understand."

Minerva glared hard. Aurora had never been one of her Gryffins, but she had always done her best by the girl. "Just because she has a heart is no reason to-" A hastily placed elbow in her ribs made her turn away to face Pomona, ready to give her a piece of her mind, when her eyes caught sight of Aurora, who was, rather determinedly, making her way to the front of the Great Hall. She moved with a quick energy that made others immediately get out of her way, no matter how drunk they were.

She placed her wand against her throat and whispered the Sonorus Charm. "Class of 1997, congratulations on completing your seven years of wizarding schooling so successfully." A wave of cheers met those words.

"Did Albus tell you that she was starting the opening speeches?" Minerva hissed.

"No," Pomona hissed back.

Aurora waited until the noise slid down to continue. "These seven years have been the easiest you will ever face."

Everything went dead silent.

"You've made lasting friends, and bitter enemies, found love and laughter, despite the darkness of the outside world." Her dark eyes roamed over them, watching. "No matter how great your accomplishments, no matter how good your grades or reputations, you will have to learn how to start from scratch, to build up those reputations from the ground up. Today you will cease being children." Her eyes seemed too big for her face. "You will cease hiding behind stone walls. There are no places to hide now." She breathed in, still watching the faces that stared back expectantly at her, waiting for her well wishes, and sighed. They would learn the hard way, and she shouldn't be here spoiling their last night of childhood.

She forced a smile. "You will find a job, find a spouse, or a partner and grow up. You will build a life outside of Hogwarts." She breathed deeply, and closed her eyes, a tear leaking from underneath her lashes. "I wish you the best of luck, and hope that your lives are all that you want them to be."

There was silence.

It was Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley who started clapping first. Slow, and then fast, and it caught like wildfire. Aurora stepped back, and opened her eyes, her dark eyes, and watched as the student body clapped.

As Minerva approached, she turned away and whispered the Quietus charm. She turned to face the approaching professor, and nodded. She left, still smiling softly, and went to her rooms to go to bed.

_'In a way, I'm the lucky one,'_ she thought ashe climbed into bed. _'I will always be protected by these walls, I will never have to scrounge and dig and pry my way up ever again.'_ She stared at the wall, before closing her eyes, and falling asleep.

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The bottle of Firewhisky was standing on her kitchenette counter, still unopened.

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**So? What did you think? Read and Review, please.**


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